Kaiden Alenko and the Twisted Universe
by Xaryen Maelstrom
Summary: Sometimes the universe just takes the idea 'everyone has a double' a bit too far. Kaiden Alenko is a living prove of just HOW twisted the universe's humor is.


SPOILERS: Everything from ME1 ending to ME3 ending. So don't read if you don't know the games and don't want spoiled!  
SUMMARY: Sometimes the universe just takes the idea 'everyone has a double' a bit too far. Kaiden Alenko is a living prove of just HOW twisted the universe's humor is.  
DISCLAIMERS: The spark for the idea was mine. Bioware and EA own the Mass Effect 'verse. Just written for fun.  
WARNING: Future chapters will have slash pairings! Other than that... if you can play the games... you should be able to read the fic. Not for kids tho!

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**Chapter 1**

Sometimes I really wish I was someone else. Or that I at least had a different name. Something simple or normal. Like Steven. Or maybe James. Hell, I'd go for John if I had to. Just as long as it was not ibKaiden/i/b fucking ibAlenko/i/b.

Sure it's just one letter change from the amazing biL2 Biotic Specter God Kaidan Alenko/i/b... But still! How hard is it to actually check your spelling! I can't remember how many times I've received some top secret information "for your eyes only" or something such by accident because some bureaucratic idiot could not check what the hell he was writing on the Receiver part of the message! I don't need to be interrogated by some hotshot agents ibAGAIN/i/b because I received something I was not supposed to. Because of a spelling error! It gets real old .. real fast.

You know, it also does not help that by some nasty quirk of nature we also look a like. I mean I'm in no way related to the bastard. Is he even a bastard? I've actually never met him. And that is amazing since you know.. almost the same name and we look a like.. and all the problems that comes with it. Maybe the political and security peeps are just keeping us a part. After all there's no need to worry the ibGreat Human Specter/i/b with minor details of a mistaken identity.

It just gets so tiresome after a while. I mean back on Horizon it was a funny thing. But even then when he was there to install those turrets we never bumped into each other. Might have been because I was at the lower valley working on that new building operation. They said it was gonna be a some sort of a hotel for rich people. Would bring more money in for the colony and all that. I think we all know how that turned out. ibSanctuary/i/b... And boy do I feel guilty about it. I mean I was ibTHERE/i/b building the mother fucker! Spa's they said the lower levels were going to be for... Spa's my ass! But yeah. Even then we never met. Not once. Not sure if it's a blessing or a curse. Probably both.

I was also there when the Collectors hit. Working 4 levels underground. Safe. What a laugh. Sure I was safe from the Collectors but I was unknowingly helping build the next nightmare. It just seemed so unreal. So... like a dream... Or nightmare more like! To be talking with people you knew most of your life and then next all you hear is screams and then... Nothing. Just this buzzing of insects and then static.

My mother didn't make it that day. They never found her. My sister blamed me for not helping. Like what was I supposed to do? Throw a hammer at them? I'm not a soldier! I'm a construction worker for fucks sake! I build houses and ships and thing! She's the soldier in the family. I didn't see her anywhere near the colony tho now did I? I know I can't blame her for what happened but damn it! She knows I'm not a fighter!

Me and Trish. We were tight before mom died. Now... we hardly speak. I know she blames me. Hell! I blame me. I should have done… Something. But at the same time I know there was nothing I could have done. It was all so very beyond me. Collectors... I'm not even sure what that means. Some of the survivors told stories. They were horror stories. I don't even want to think about it.

With dad dead and now mom. I'm the big brother who builds things and she's the little sister throwing herself at harms way. I know it's the way soldiers do things. They protect others. They fight so that the innocent by standers don't have to. I fear for the day that I get the message about her. KIA or MIA or something. I never want to see those letters with her name in the same sentence. We might not be talking right now but she's still my sister. And I do love her.

They say Shepard was there, on Horizon, that day. Saving people. I never got to meet him either. I've seen pictures of him of course. I mean who hasn't. They were all over the place, even at the colonies, a few years back. ibSavior of the Citadel/i/b they called him. ibA Hero/i/b. I don't know about that. Might be a hero or just a guy in the right place at the right time. Hell I've seen and talked with the VI even. Creepy thing that. I don't know how accurate it can be... being a fan made VI and all that. Probably not all that accurate. I heard the rumors of Cerberus. I don't think there was a soul living who didn't. And anything that had to do with Cerberus couldn't be good. Or so I thought back then anyway.

It's been a few years since Horizon. I've been doing some traveling. With Trish away on assignments and mom dead. Most of my friends gone. I just didn't want to stay there. I just couldn't stay and think about them all day in and out. Too many ghosts lingering about. So I left.

Went to the Citadel for the first time. The place is ibHuge!/i/b And so many aliens just walking about minding their own business. It was a bit overwhelming I'll admit that. But at the same time... it was freeing. Eye opening even. It's not just us humans around in the 'vers. It's a lot of species. Some I'd never even heard of before.

The only thing that I hated about the place was the fact that I was stopped almost every minute by someone who thought I was The ibKAIDAN/i/b Alenko. Wanted me to look something over or wanted to talk about something. Even back then when he was "just" an Alliance Officer it was hell. I think that was the time I decided I hated the guys guts! Or the higher power that gave me his name and face! As you can guess I did not stay at the Citadel for long. I wanted out of there after 3 days of being mistaken for Kaidan. Even the Security officer.. Bailey I think his name was.. Thought I was him. I had to convince him 5 times that I was not Kaidan fucking Alenko.

In the end I just took the next ship out. Not really caring where the hell I was going. I later found out I was just in time too. Had a near miss with Shepard retuning to the Citadel for something. I think we passed each other with barely minutes really. I remember looking out a port window thinking that the ship passing the one I was in looked almost like the famous Normandy. I remember thinking that some fan-boy had taken that obsession a little too far. It makes me laugh now sure. Since I now know that it actually ibWAS/i/b the Normandy.


End file.
